Student football team disrobes for charity

It started as a joke at the football club, but now you can actually order one: the calendar featuring nude photos of Meinard Klooster’s Groen Geel team, put together for the annual charity week. The proceeds will go to Stichting Straatwijs.

By Lyanne Levy / Translation by Sarah van Steenderen

This year’s new football club members decided to do something new for their annual charity week. Some players thought it would never happen, but their calendar featuring nude photos of Groen Geel’s club Zondag 3 became available last week. ‘We’re a new team. We’re participating in this campaign for the first time and we want to show what we’ve got’, says Meinard, a third year teacher training student.

The students gathered ahead of their scheduled training and finished the photo shoot in half an hour. They took the pictures themselves, in the cafeteria, the board room, on the field, and in the dressing rooms.

Flag cover-up

‘We took off our clothes and just went for it. Nothing’s worth doing if you don’t do it well. We had to keep it PG-13 of course, so we’re covered up with keeper gloves, the corner flag, and a football’, says Klooster.

Not everyone was eager to get naked, says Klooster. ‘A few teammates didn’t want to draw attention to the team, but the club as a whole is really enthusiastic about the calendar. We’re really happy with the end results.’

Everyone gets a calendar

It’ll be difficult to top this action for the charity week next year. ‘We’ve not made it easy on ourselves. We hope to meet expectations again next year. We’ll have to figure out what we’ll come up with’, says Klooster.

The proceeds of the calendar will go to Stichting Straatwijs, a foundation that helps homeless people in Groningen. The calendar costs 15 euros and can be ordered by e-mailing naaktkalenderzondag3@gmail.com